In front of the hospital, a fight was taking place. Punks who had tried to mug Lex Berrikk hadn't counted on his ability to fight back, or that Church soldier Seth Rahved would step in to help. After the fists had flown & the dust settled, there was one punk left who hadn't been able to run, lying unconscious. Lex and Seth dragged him up the stairs and into the hospital lobby.
Already in the lobby were Dr. Adeline Frostt and Dr. Joseff Jansenn. A catt-sized creature Addy called Binndibbie perched on her shoulder. Penny was in her usual crouch in a corner, just watching everything with her huge red eyes. Addy was telling Joe how she had dug Bin out of the rubble of the orphanage; but her words froze in her throat when, turning as Lex called "A little help here ..." and she saw Seth enter, also.
Unnoticed, Penny also froze at the sight of Seth, her body tensing in terror at the memories the Church uniform brought back to her.
Seth's eyes narrowed in the bright hospital lights, coming to a standstill as he felt several pairs of eyes on him. He kept his calm, though, as he and Lex turned the ganger over to Mera's care.
Penny could not, however, calm her fears. She began to shake uncontrollably, and her doll dropped to the floor. Then she was overcome, and loped at Seth full bore. She leapt at him, claws leading the flight, aimed at his throat, intending to tear it out. A mixture of fear and anger filled her eyes.
Seth grabbed Penny's wrists just before she hit, struggling to keep them away from important body parts. "Hey, kid ... hold on there ..." He tried to talk to her while fighting off the violent battering. Penny kicked her way out of his grip, then turned and launched herself at him again. Trying to leap back, he hit the wall, feeling claws slice through his skin.
Finally, guards arrived, passing the gaping Lex and the spot where Joe sat comforting Addy, still distressed by Seth's appearance here at the Hospital. The guards tried to place themselves between Penny and Seth, but ended up just not giving him any room to get away. "You idiots ..." he hissed, as one guard tugged at the arm he was trying to defend himself with. Penny, just seeing uniforms, turned her attack onto the guards. As the girl's frenzy reached a crescendo and Seth punched a guard in an attempt to get free, they finally pulled out tazers and zapped Penny into unconsciousness, getting Seth a few times in the process.
After a moment, Penny woke and groggily dragged herself back to her corner, seeing three of everything. Seeing her back in her crouch, Seth backed toward the cafeteria, head darting around as he hears Adeline's voice say "It's the uniform. She's attacked Churchmen before."
He took a deep breath through his teeth; fighting off bad memories ... it seemed to be the night for them. "You again," he whispered. "Monster Maker ..."
Addy gritted her teeth, part of her wanting to just let Penny do her thing; but that attitude belonged to her past. "Just do as you're told for once, soldier, and get out of her sight."
Taking a cloak from Lex to hide his clothing, he spun and stalked toward the cafeteria, his shoulder hitting Addy hard as he passed. Joe grabbed him by the shoulder and said, "I think you owe the lady an apology."
Seth glared. "What lady?"
"Joe ... don't ..." Addy pleaded.
Smirking as he made the connection between Addy & Joe, he pushed past them into the cafeteria, joining Lex.
Oblivious to the tension, Quent entered the lobby, walking up to Joe & Addy. "Hi!" he said. At the sound of his voice, the frightened green critter that had hidden itself in her shirt popped up for a look, peering about with its huge purple eyes. Quent screamed rather girlishly.
Addy smiled. "Quent, it's ok; it's a friend." She tugged it the rest of the way out of her shirt so Quent could see it better. "He's harmless." He poked at Bin a few times, but got bored after it didn't do anything but make cute noises. Then he took out his red bouncy ball to amuse himself.
Addy, feeling eyes on her, turned to find herself staring at Seth, who was leaving the cafeteria after finishing his meal. He was staring back, rifle dangling from his fingers, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Without changing expression, as if in a trance, he pulled the rifle up and across his arm. Addy froze, arms at her sides, Bin diving down her shirt once again. As Seth pushed aside the safety pin, as if hypnotized, something ... cold ... flashed in her eyes. Seeing Quent put himself between her and Seth, her voice dropped dangerously. "Move, Quent. Now."
The young man shook his head. "I can't do that."
She turned toward Seth. "Drop the gun."
Seth's hands shook as he raised the scope to his eye. Beads of sweat formed on his brow, as it seemed like he fought with inner demons. He watched Joseff step in front of Addy, and Quent raised the ball, poised to throw. "Move!" he hissed between clenched teeth.
Addy stared level at the Churchman. "You two don't know what you're getting into. I made him ... I'll UNmake him!"
Joe was also staring at Seth. "You want to kill your Monster-maker, then walk out the door and forget. She's changed." And just like that, hearing Joseff use those words, the ice shattered from her eyes, and she crumpled to the floor, defenseless.
As Addy was speaking, a chuckling Quent threw his ball side-arm at Seth. He laughed and ran after it, not completely understanding the situation. Startled, Seth pulled the trigger, sending a bullet through the ball, and consequently, right through Quent's shoulder. Seth lost control; as his eyes followed Quent to the ground, he saw Addy huddled there. He advanced on her, barrel aimed between her eyes. "I ... need you ... to get out ... of my head ..."
She looked up sadly. "I want to be out of your head, but I can't do it at gunpoint."
Joe had had enough. He threw a right cross at Seth, connecting so hard that Seth staggered back a few feet. The rifle slipped from his shoulder. He blinked, confused. His glance moved between Joe & Addy while he began to insist, again, that she get out of his head.
Quent had struggled to his feet and, bleeding from his shoulder, began searching for his ball. He bumped into Joseff, oblivious as to what had happened. "Have you seen my ball?"
"Yes I have, Quent." Joe led him toward the ER. "Come with me ..." They walked slowly away, Joe picking up the rifle as they passed. Addy sighed as they left her alone with the man who, moments before, had tried to kill her.
Joe led Quent into an exam room, quickly removing the bullet and patching the wound. Penny, recovered from the tazer blasts, poked her head in to see if Quent was ok. She moved closer as she saw him wave, indicating that the other man was NOT torturing him. His work done, Joe made his way back to Addy, relieved to see Seth gone.
Addy looked up at Quent, who had followed behind Joe. "I want to thank you, Quent. That was very brave."
"What was?" he asked.
"Protecting me like that. It was very nice."
"Oh yeah, getting shot." He shrugged. "I was just doing my job."
"Quent," she said, "getting shot is NOT your job."
"Try not to get shot," Joe added. "I'd hate to see you get hurt."
"You just did." Quent chuckled. "But I have to do that, because of the bad stuff I did to you."
"You just have to try and be good, you don't have to be a hero," said Joe.
"But I tried to kill you and Mommy, so now I have to keep you alive."
Addy blinked. "Mommy?"
"You want your mommy, too?" Quent smiled and patted her knee. "That's okay, I do, too. We all feel that way sometimes."
She just looked at him, puzzled. Joe said, "Well, just be careful, ok? Someday I might not be here to patch you up."
Quent laughed. "Who needs you?" He smiled at them both as Penny came back over beside him. He held out his ball. "Come on, Demon Girl, want to play?"
As the doctors sat and talked, Quent tried to teach Penny how to play catch with the new red rehabilitation ball Joe had given him. He had about as much success with it as Terra had in teaching her table manners, but both unusual people seemed to have a good time together anyway; which is all that counts.